I’m trying to get this letter and the model release it’s written on to this nice couple. They live in a hand-built wooden house that floats in an eddy of the Apalachicola River. John and Patricia are some of the nicest people I’ve met, having shared Busch beer and fried catfish with me on both Apalachicola River paddles (2009 and 2013). I’m sure they don’t mind being a part of our film, but for due-diligence we need to get their signature on a model release. Hopefully then Georgia Public Broadcasting will air the film later this year.

This retroactive release effort is not ideal and not recommended for future documentary projects. We could have just gotten them as we went. Oh well, who, other than famous people, fugitives, or politicians, doesn’t like getting a hand-written letter complete with self-addressed-stamp-envelope?

Just last week I got a call from a Georgia area code and the man on the line said he was calling to talk to one of the men who floated the river last year and made a movie about it. I told him that was me and my brother. He sounded surprised, saying he thought this was a big company or something that was doing the film. He wanted to know the status of the film and I told him it was complete. The nice man had seen Michael floating down the river near McIntosh Reserve, south of Atlanta. He’d asked Michael where he was going and what he was doing. Michael told him as he floated by. And that was it. The man said he’s been thinking about it ever since and wants to see the movie. He said he’d rather have a DVD copy than a download online. So I sent him a hand-written letter, too, plus a DVD.